Finding a good home for a senior dog is often difficult; finding a GREAT home is even harder. But it can happen, and it does! Walter was found wandering the street of a local neighborhood and brought to us by a very kind and concerned resident. It was obvious Walter was a senior dog. Judging by his body condition, his painful joints, and his rotting teeth, we estimated him to be about 14 years old, give or take some. In addition to those conditions, his eyes were thick with cataracts. If he were a human taking a vision test, he probably couldn’t make out the first line of the eye chart! But Walter was incredibly sweet. Even with his physical challenges, he was optimistic and still seemed to believe that life was good!

Thankfully, our universe seems to work in strange and wonderful ways. When COVID-19 hit, Haley and Rob began working from home and soon realized an older dog would be perfect for their new and most-likely permanent lifestyle. They loved Dachshunds, so began searching shelters and rescues for a senior dog. They cast their exploratory net far and wide. Eventually, they found a dog in the Florida Panhandle and were on their way to pick her up when they learned the foster family couldn’t bring themselves to give her up. Haley and Rob headed home very disheartened. Then one day, after more than a year of searching, Haley heard a notification ping on her phone. A senior Doxie was in a shelter. Haley was shocked to discover the shelter was in Key West—the very town where she lived! She saw a picture of Walter, who was part of our Golden Paw Project which promotes the adoption of senior pets. Needless to say, things moved very quickly from there. After a meet and some discussion, Walter was awarded his winning lottery ticket to a new home!

Every update we received convinced us that Walter did win the lottery!

“We took him to the vet yesterday for a quick check-up (he’s a healthy boy!) and to get some info on the best way to move forward with his teeth. We were advised to give him a little more time to settle in with us and then take him up to Marathon for a teeth cleaning. They will let us know how bad his teeth are underneath all the yuck and then we’ll see what, if anything, needs to be done further.

Thanks to Fromm brand salmon kibbles, coconut oil, and some aloe vera & oatmeal baths, I’m sooo happy to report that Walter’s poor dry, dandruffy skin has almost completely cleared up already! It’s like night and day from when we first picked him up! We also started giving him GlycoFlex Plus treats right away, we’ll wait and see if there’s any improvement with his arthritis before looking at medication that might help make him more comfortable (though he has absolutely NO trouble getting around! We call him our little explorer!)

But besides all that…he is just the happiest, most loving, wonderful little boy in the world! He’s a total cuddle bug (and a giant bed hog!), he loves tearing up stuffed animals, chest rubs, sunbathing, giving lots of kisses, absolutely LOVES car rides, and best of all, he’s a total mama’s boy! I can’t believe how resilient he is. He settled in so fast here and I really do think he already knows that this is going to be his home for the rest of his life. To be honest, I’m not sure how we ever lived without him. He just could not be more of a perfect fit for us. We feel so lucky for every single day that we get to spend with him, love him, spoil him, & make him feel safe.

I cannot thank you enough for connecting us with him, for trusting us with him, for absolutely everything… I love this little boy more than I can even put into words. Truly.”

Dogs like Walter and people like Haley and Rob are powerful reminders of why we do the work we do!